Marvel Has an Event Problem (And It’s Gotten Exhausting)

Comic book events can be some of the biggest, best stories that the Big Two companies put out. When they’re done right, they are celebrations of characters and storylines that demonstrate all the strengths of a shared universe. From Secret Wars to Annihilation to The Infinity Gauntlet, the best comic book events are remembered as the best stories Marvel has ever put out. Of course, the same is true in reverse, as bad events like Civil War II  and Ultimatum are some of the worst. Good or bad, crossover events shake and shape the Marvel Universe as nothing else can. When it can do all that, it’s no wonder Marvel has so many events, but that’s the problem.

In recent years, especially, Marvel has stepped on the gas with the number of events they’ve been putting out. Their big, climactic crossovers take over the entire Marvel line and push stories and tie-ins towards specific directions, and then, once they’re over, they start all over again with a brand new event. There’s no time to rest or relax in a new status quo, because Marvel is already charging towards the next big event. Simply put, Marvel does too many company-wide events, and it’s exhausting trying to keep up.

Never-Ending Events in Sequence

For example, let’s look at the recently wrapped-up One World Under Doom. This event saw Doctor Doom declare himself emperor of the world after he harnessed the magic that came with being the Sorcerer Supreme. It was a nine-issue series that was published between February and November, meaning it took up a significant portion of the year. Naturally, Doom being in such an important position demanded that other parts of the Marvel Universe bend around him. This spawned dozens of other series and tie-ins, from “The Eight Deaths of Spider-Man” to Doom Academy to the numerous Fantastic Four tie-ins across two separate series.

On top of the dozens of tie-ins, this event directly spun out of the ending of the previous event, Blood Hunt. That five-issue event similarly had numerous crossovers and tie-ins, as well as side series. And of course, the ending of One World Under Doom spun out into the epilogue, Will of Doom, which will focus on the fallout of Doctor Doom’s rule and his successor. These two events and assorted extra bits are already a lot to digest in sequence, but what really tips them over the edge is that they weren’t even Marvel’s only events at the time.

At the same time that One World Under Doom was underway, one other event started, and another one finished. Imperial was a cosmic event that completely reordered the cosmic side of Marvel. This event was fairly self-contained, but in contrast, Age of Revelation was a massive company-wide event with sitxy issues. Its issues and tie-ins replaced the standard issues for the regular X-Men series, and frankly, sixty issues for a three-month-long event is just absurd. There’s so much happening in Marvel, and that’s not even including their upcoming company-wide event, Armageddon, which is already being set up. This is simply too much.

Too Many Events, Too Much Pressure

Marvel is doing way too many events right now. You can’t even finish catching up on one before another event begins that promises to permanently shift the Marvel Universe. Even ignoring them can only get people so far, because the events legitimately do impact the rest of Marvel in substantial ways. Events are an awesome way to connect characters and drive up engagement, but right now, it feels like Marvel is using them like a crutch. They are writing numerous events every year to capture the magic they normally produce, but all they’re succeeding in doing is oversaturating the market.

Readers get exhausted with events when that’s all that ever happens. Back in the day, massive crossovers were rarer and always had a major impact, but they were celebrated so much because they were rare. They felt special and meaningful. Nowadays, Marvel is pushing to do more events than ever before, and it feels more like running a never-ending marathon than reading a cool team-up between some of your favorite heroes. These events have the potential to hit as hard as the older ones, but they can never build up the same hype because by the time they begin, readers are still trying to digest the previous event.

Marvel is pushing too hard, too fast, with the number of events they’re doing. Events are one of the best ways to celebrate and make use of Marvel’s shared universe aspects, but readers can only maintain a level of excitement for so long. At a certain point, the events need room to breathe so we can understand them and drum up excitement for the next one. We never have that chance anymore, and it’s killing Marvel’s events.

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